On sums of four pentagonal numbers with coefficients (Q2202498)

For \(n\in\mathbb N\), let \(p_5(n)=n(3n-1)/2\) denote the \(n\)th pentagonal number. The second author conjectured that every positive integer \(k\) can be expressed as \[ k=p_5(w)+bp_5(x)+cp_5(y)+dp_5(z), \] for some \(w,x,y,z\in\mathbb N\), when \((b,c,d)\) is one of 15 triples of positive integers; that is, the quadratic polynomial \[ f(w,x,y,z)=p_5(w)+bp_5(x)+cp_5(y)+dp_5(z) \] is universal over \(\mathbb N\) for those 15 triples [\textit{Z.-W. Sun}, J. Number Theory 162, 190--211 (2016; Zbl 1402.11056)]. \textit{X.-Z. Meng} and the second author confirmed this for two of the triples [Acta Arith. 180, 229--249 (2017; Zbl 1425.11063)]. The present paper contains proofs for four of the remaining triples. One of these triples is \((1,1,2)\), thus showing that any nonnegative integer can be written as a sum of five pentagonal numbers, two of which are equal.